“Babylon must fall on account of the slain of Israel, just as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.
Parallel translations
- WEB “As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so the slain of all the land will fall at Babylon.
- KJV As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
- NKJV As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.
- NASB ¶Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.
- NLT “Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel and others throughout the world, so must her people be killed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Just as Babylon caused Israel's slain to fall, so the slain of all the earth will fall at Babylon. Babylon reaps the very destruction she inflicted on others.
Overview
This verse states the principle of exact recompense: Babylon, who filled the world with the slain, will herself be filled with the slain. Her guilt extended beyond Israel to 'all the land,' so her judgment is correspondingly vast. The justice of measure-for-measure underscores God's righteous government and points to the final judgment over which Christ presides.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 51:24Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon and all the dwellers of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD.
- Jer 50:29Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
- Ps 137:8–9O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- Jer 51:35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” says the dweller of Zion. “May my blood be on the dwellers of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem.
- Jer 50:17–18Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
- Jer 50:33–34This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them.
- Matt 7:2For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Jas 2:13For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Judg 1:7Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
- Jer 50:11“Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,
- Jer 51:10–11“The LORD has brought forth our vindication; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has accomplished.”
- Rev 18:5–6For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 51:49 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.